Ford's Tempo Sport Gl Takes On A Peppier Image

November 23, 1986|By John Hicks of the Sentinel Staff

The Ford Tempo was a herald of a new era of domestic auto design when it first appeared in 1983. With slicked-up body and aircraft-styled wrap-over doors, it helped to overthrow an age of boxlike cars and gave promise of greater things to come in personal transportation.

In 1986, the aero movement no longer is a revolution. Even the lowliest econocar has some streamlined touches. Meanwhile, what has happened to the Tempo since those heady days of guerrilla design?

With the exception of some cosmetic touchups, the car looks the same as when introduced: sloping nose and slanted grille, rounded sides and bobbed tail. Neat, practical, but definitely middle class.

Now, however, Ford has brought out the Tempo Sport GL, with a stronger engine and subtle modifications designed to breathe fire into the old soldier. Ford's degree of success in its up-Tempo arrangement is debatable, depending in part on how the individual defines ''sport.'' The cost is less arguable. With a $986 discount on options, the test Sport GL, made available by Don Reid Ford, Maitland, cost $9,924, an appealing price in today's market. From the outside, Sport GL closely resembles other Tempos except for its thick-spoked alloy wheels, rear deck-lid luggage rack and absence of shiny metal. The white test car was further distinguished by dark-gray accent paint on its lower body and by red plastic strips in bumper covers and side moldings.

Inside, body-contoured bucket seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a ''sports instrument cluster'' further lift Sport GL from the ranks of ordinary Tempos. The rear bench seat, designed for three occupants, will more comfortably accommodate two. The test car's red cloth upholstery provided a bright splash of appeal.

It is, however, in the propulsion and handling departments that Sport GL makes its effort to rise into the ranks of worldclass driving machinery -- but it falls short of the promise implied in its tricky middle name.

''Sport'' can signify anything from the purely decorative to a state of mind. But to me, it means that the car can be safely driven faster and more enthusiastically than a non-sport car. While the Sport GL might be driven in sportier fashion than other Tempos, it is not an all-out sports car.

Sport GL's 2.3-liter, electronically fuel-injected ''High Specific Output'' engine gives the front-wheel-drive car adequate go, for either city streets or the open road. But it's a tingly, booming engine not at home in a high-tech '80s auto.

The five-speed manual transmission is easy to work, but takes a practiced hand for smooth gear changes. Clutch takeup, although strong and definite, is thumpy, particularly at around-town speeds.

Power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering makes it easy to toss Sport GL around; however, the assist is too high for sporty driving and the ''performance suspension'' has too much give for serious tossing, particularly on rough pavement.

Thus, the Tempo concept of ''sport'' lies more in the area of images than realities. What Tempo Sport GL does offer is a neat-looking small car with a healthy shot of style and quality-control manufacture. A mini-Thunderbird of sorts.

While ''Sport'' is too ambitious a middle name for this Tempo, I'd like to see the car brought up to the level of its advertising. The revolutionary zeal apparently is still there: Ford has introduced the weather-defying Tempo All-Wheel-Drive model, which moves the company into competition with American Motors and such foreign manufacturers as Audi and Subaru.

Imagine the possibilities offered by building sports-car handling, a smooth-running engine and four-wheel-drive into an economically priced car called, say, the Tempo Sport All-Wheel-Drive. Now that would be sporty.